Let's Get Rid of the Clutter!

This week's blog is about getting rid of your clutter from your desktop, your office, your home.

How? 
First you have to buy an iPad or some other tablet that has a ubiquitous software corral. This blog is based upon an article from Mac | Life, February '13, The Portable Library by Matt Clark.

I am a reading fiend and that area of my life is one that I generally don't skimp expenses on.  I particularly LOVE magazines, and have unfortunate piles of them in my office and around my house. I skim them and "tab" the articles that I intend to read.  I have a regular reading period each week to see if I can put a dent into the pile, and it seems that the more free time that I have — the more I read.

So, I guess you could say that I was conflicted when I bought my new iPad because now I had even more ways to read things, BUT also a way to cut down on the clutter and be more GREEN.  So, to that end I found the following ways to cut down on the piles, or bring the piles with me.

Inkling (FREE, UNIVERSAL) is an app that has been built from the ground up for the iPad and it is for interactive books. It also works on PC and its content goes the full gamut from anatomy to zoology.

Next Issue (SUBSCRIPTION-based, iPad only) is one of my favorite apps because it it dedicated to access top-tiered magazines. Instapaper ($3.99, UNIVERSAL) has launched The Magazine with a broader-based grouping of magazines and an ongoing $1.99/month subscription.

tech. (SUBSCRIPTION-based, iPad) is a once-a-week (Thursdays) publication that is for the nerd in you.

If you like pop culture then The Awl: Weekend Companion (SUBSCRIPTION-based, UNIVERSAL) is for "all the crazy pop culture and world news coverage..." that you need. This is delivered once a week on Fridays for only $4.99/month.

If you are into Comics, there's Comics (FREE, UNIVERSAL) from Comixology, touted to be the most "robust" content, but there is also DC Comics and Marvel both (FREE, UNIVERSAL).

Of course for me, and maybe for you, the best place to get my written news is The New York Times app (SUBSCRIPTION-based, iPad), but there are also  great apps like Pulse News (FREE, iPad) that "automatically grabs posts from various blogs, newspapers and magazines and places them in one convenient reading package." And Flipboard (FREE, UNIVERSAL) "feeds a steady stream of news to my iPad from official sources that I trust, but it also blends all of my friends' Twitter and Facebook feeds into the equation in a sleek, magazine-like interface."

Finally, as you know, I have been a big Kindle fan, but I am slowly warming to iBooks as well.  I love the iBook interface and the fact that I can highlight in green, yellow, blue and pink.

Whatever your taste for reading may be there's something out there for everyone.  Let me know what I have forgotten, or what you may be using.